HARALD SCHMITZ-SCHMELZER

German, born 1953, Duisburg, Germany. Based in Muehlheim an der Ruhr, Germany.

After studying painting and the traditional color materials Schmitz-Schmelzer began working more focused with lacquer and other materials and to experiment with different formats of images such as Steal and circular forms.

Harald Schmitz-Schmelzer’s cast acrylic works bridge the gap between painting, sculpture and science. The artist’s studio, like an experimental lab, is where he challenges the limits of color perception. Through the use of an acrylic carrier substance, a binding agent and pigments the artist is able to create his uniquely layered objects. Like a painter, Schmitz-Schmelzer begins with color in liquid form, but instead of applying it to the surface of a canvas, he instead pours it into a mold. Taking into account opacity, hue and thickness, layer upon layer of acrylic is added until it reaches the desired shape and expression. The result is an encyclopedic array of colors that vary depending on light and the angle at which they are looked at.

Artist statement

My scheme of “stripes,” which, in fact, are not flat stripes, but three-dimensional layers of color, can be an interesting example of non-objective and non-relational art as realized in a three-dimensional process of pouring a pigmented compound into a casting mould without recalling precisely the colors that were poured some days before. The resulting piece has its own vitality and is in some way the ally of the artist, not only his product. This is in contrast to the often-seen stripes painted on canvas, which can look like meticulous elaborations of images made on the computer—a lifeless result of soulless design. I feel that my works are like children—I always try my best, but each piece has its own astonishing nature.